


Why do you keep dreaming... (Eng. Translation)

by TinyPeachCreak



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: BL, Boy Squad, Boys Love - Freeform, DSOD, Dark Side of Dimensions, Deutsch | German, Drama & Romance, Dream Demon, Dreams, Duel Monsters, Duel Monsters Anime, Emotional, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Feelings, Fluff and Humor, Friendship goals, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mokuba is aged up, Mokuba is troubled, Mokuba misses Noah, Mutual Pining, Mystery, Post-Canon, Seto being worried af, Seto x Yugi, Stepshipping - Freeform, Young Love, Yu-Gi-Oh! - Freeform, Yugi and Mokuba are besties, dealing with FEELINGS, post-dsod, rivalshipping - Freeform, translated from my original ff which is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22881691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyPeachCreak/pseuds/TinyPeachCreak
Summary: As he started to acknowledge Yugi's independence and his dueling skills, Seto approached him for the test phase of his new and improved solid vision system.Hence, the two young men started to spend more time together - resulting in both of them starting to develop feelings for the other, they don't seem to accept themselves.At the same time Mokuba and Yugi befriended - In fact, they get along so well, that a certain CEO is extremely annoyed by it.However, as Mokuba asks Yugi for help, which ends up being a huge mistake, as unfortunate events lead to them granting an unknown enemy access to the world of their dreams, Seto has to come to terms with his feelings in order to save them, as the suffering of his brother, which he failed to see for the longest time, may be about to threaten the lives of those he holds dear....post-DSODHave mercy - I'm trying to practice my English skills..Rivalshipping (main), Stepshipping (side)- Post DSOD -Drama, Humour, (Mystery?), Boys Love, Fluff
Relationships: Kaiba Mokuba/Kaiba Noa, Kaiba Seto & Mutou Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi, kaiba m
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1 ''I'm here for you...''

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Was dich in deinen Träumen hält...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22600675) by [TinyPeachCreak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyPeachCreak/pseuds/TinyPeachCreak). 



None of the Characters is mine (at least for several upcoming chapters) and nor is the art.

A friendly reminder that this is a BL/Yaoi story - There won't be any smut though! 

I want to focus on the plot evolving Yugi, Mokuba, Seto and... ah just keep reading if you'd like to find out allrighty? (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

-Mokuba-

The world around him was cold and dark.

A cold, dark and empty space...

All around him, above him, under his feet: there was nothing at all.

"Where am-" he started to question, when he realized that he couldn't hear any sound leaving his lips.

"What ..?"

Again. 

He didn't hear his own voice, despite moving his lips in the same manner he always did. 

He rose his hand to touch his throat and gulped nervously. 

This...

... had to be another nightmare, right ...?

That wouldn't be a new thing. In fact, it happened way too often to the young boy lately and he desperately hoped, that this night might be different.

Only at night would he be confronted with this strange world of his worst dreams and he knew, it hadn't always been this way.

Not that he'd remember how and why this vicious circle of reoccurring nightmares began - It really didn't matter as well.

"SETO! '' He pointlessly kept trying to call his brother, wondering which level of volume his cries would have reached if it wouldn't be for his voice to be muted. 

Of course, there would be no response.

At some point he finally dropped to his knees and gritted his teeth.

He was alone. 

Just as always...

Nobody was here and not even he himself could hear his own cries.

He shut his eyes in frustration and slammed into the nothing below what seemed to support him like a floor.

Tears ran down his cheeks, as he mentally cursed himself for not being able to hold them back.

He was helpless once again...

Suddenly he noticed how it was getting colder and colder.

Slightly trembling he opened his eyes. 

He was kneeling on a street now - When did his environment change so drastically?!

Apparently snow has fallen - god knows when this had happened - and the road he was kneeling on was coated by a thin layer of ice.

Above him, the sky was nothing but thick gray clouds and a cold, chilling breeze swept over the place. 

His first attempt to stand up failed miserably, as the young Kaiba stumbled and slipped to roughly fall on the icy ground, whereupon he met the cold, hard surface face first.

He cried out, choked with pain - yet again without making a sound - and let fresh tears run down his face.

That was a dream ... why does it hurt so much ...? 

With shaky arms he braced himself from the floor and slowly straightened up again.

The cold wind let the tears on his face become painfully rigid and cold. 

Also, there was a sudden stinging and cold sensation around his nose.

He wiped his face with one hand and flinched slightly as he brushed his nasal bone.

There was a smeared mixture of his tears and blood on his hand now. 

"Spoiled brat... cries although he's never had to really suffer...'' 

A deep hoarse voice said this behind Mokuba and before he could have reacted to it, a big heavy hand clawed into his hair.

He was pulled up sharply and let out a muted gasp as the pain went through his head and neck. He was now on tiptoe, trying to turn to see who the voice belonged to.

"What have you ever done... besides calling for your brother ...?" The villainous voice continued. 

And slowly... it dawned on Mokuba.

"Gouzaburo ...!" He mouthed this name, forgetting the fact that it wouldn't be heard anyway.

Though the memories were enough to fill Mokuba's thoughts with fear.

This... had to be a dream...

As the boy was pushed onto the street roughly, the pain he felt on his scalp was followed by the harsh impact of his back on the solid ice covering street.

For a brief moment he was unable to breathe and panicked.

His chest then, as he coughed a couple of times, rose and fell irregularly, he had to blink away the blur of the upcoming tears in order to face the old man, who once was the head of the Kaiba Corporation. 

"Why won't you say anything? Being silent won't make you pathetic boy less annoying..." the cruel man said before he rose his index finger to point at some direction behind Mokuba "I'm sure your parents would love to hear your voice once again..."

Hesitantly Mokuba got up on his feet, shaken to the point, where he feels as if he himself would freeze on spot.

What was this all about?! 

As Mokuba was able to see the street behind him in full display, he could swear his heart stopped beating for a second.

A horrible accident must have had happened here...

The snow now began to find its way to the ground in small, almost innocent looking grayish flakes and settled here on the road, the fields in the distance and... 

...two cars that had come to a standstill on the road.

The tire marks left by the cars blurred the snow on the layer of ice and were lines, similar to the uncoordinated ones of a preschooler drawing a picture. 

Small parts of the vehicles were scattered around like toys that have been taken out of their box and never found their way back in. 

Those cars were so severely damaged and deformed, that it almost looked like a contribution to a modern art exhibition or like the exaggerated depiction of a car crash in a cartoon, where the hood of the cars would bend into a shape similar to an accordion.

They had a frontal crash obviously...

Mokuba swallowed at this sight and couldn't even move his head to look away. 

As if Mokuba was forced to see this, by someone... Or something...?

He remained quiet as he stared at the aftermath of the accident.

Now his eyes were glued to the cracked windows, which were already slightly covered with powdery snow.

Nevertheless, something... red... could be seen under the thin white layer.

Red stains ran down the windows from inside the car.

Blood...

"Well.. what are you waiting for ...?" the impersonation of Gouzaburo broke the silence "You haven't seen them for so long ... '' said the picture of his former stepfather firmly yet sounding almost amused. 

Mokuba, still feeling the pain in his nose and the freezing tears on his cheeks, shakily managed to step closer to the accident site.

With every step he felt growing pain piercing through his chest.

He stopped in front of the car, which he recognized as the one his parents used to have. 

This car was used by his parents as they used to drive to the zoo or eat ice cream whenever they could.

Of course, he was young back then and his memory might betray him here and there when he thought back to his childhood but this car... He'd never forget about it - as ridiculous as it might appear.

Even though it was uch an unimportant detail of his past that was in front of him; Seeing it being completely demolished like that made him want to tear up again. 

As Mokuba stood barely a few inches apart from the passenger seat door, his hand went up to rest on the handle.

This time, he could move. 

He just didn't dare to.

That was the place where his mother always sat. 

She often fell asleep while driving.

He and Seto were always in the back and the black-haired boy constantly kept complaining that he still had to sit in his child seat while Seto didn't have to.

His father kept telling him to wait until he'd grow up to be as big as Seto, which only made him more annoyed.

A sad smile crept onto Mokuba's face and he swallowed, realising how dry his mouth was and how his heart was racing. 

Why would he open this door ...? 

He didn't want to see what's inside at all!

Wearing a look of distress on his face, he pulled his hand away and took a few steps back.

"You still can't face the truth." Mokuba widened his eyes in alarm.

This no longer was Gouzaburo's voice ... 

"But at some point you have to accept the fact that everyone you hold dear will have to leave... sooner or later." 

The new voice continued and the sound of footsteps in the snow let Mokuba, without the need to turn around, know that the other person was approaching him. 

Mokuba then took his eyes off of the broken cars and slightly turned to look over his shoulder.

"... S ... Seto ... ?''

"Mother, father, even I Mokie... just as you have seen it happening with that other brother we had... '' 

As Mokuba has fully turned around to face his big brother he realized, that said one looked distinctively younger. Just like back then, when they got into the orphanage.

Mokuba's eyes narrowed, staring furiously at the face of this bad dream's illusion.

Seto would never leave him ...!

And above all, what did the last statement mean? 

He couldn't possibly be refering to...?

"And just as it happened with this version of Seto Kaiba..." the copycat version of his brother said, while lazily pointing at himself "I'm also gone little brother. What is left of the boy you are seeing in this very moment is just a rude and power-possessed shell of a man. All, because I wanted to protect you. My little weak little brother." 

As the brunette said those words, you could hear the bitterness, which came with them.

Mokuba, feeling great shame, looked away from his brother's younger image.

"All I did was learning and trying to climb higher on the ladder of success. I ruined others' lives to make ours better... to make yours better, while I had no childhood. I brought us money in exchange for my freedom... are you happy with yourself? Are you satisfied little brother ...? '' He asked, not showing any kind of emotion whatsoever.

Neither angry, nor reproachful, nor disappointed. 

Only an icy coldness was conveyed in the tone of his voice and his look gave away nothing else.

It was, as if the blue of his eyes had been from a deadly ice crystal that was going to cut through Mokuba.

"Stop ...!'' Mokuba gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. 

None of this could be real!

Seto would never accuse him of ruining his life like that!

He wouldn't do that...

"You can't even bring up that little bit of courage to answer? Of course... You never had to make any effort, you never had to learn and you never had to do something reprehensible ... You were allowed to remain an innocent child...''

In a glimpse of a second, young Seto had disappeared, just to appear - not a second later - from behind.

His hands swiftly wrapped around Mokubas Neck, so that he could permit any air to enter the young boys lungs.

Startled, Mokuba tried to remove the hands which were mercilessly tightening their grip around the fragile boys neck. 

His fingernails clawed at the dream figure's hands, slipping and scratching his own skin in the process.

"Why do you deserve to live like that?! WHY YOU?! WHY NOT ME OR NOAH?!? ''

Mokuba could feel his strength fading gradually, mixed with the pain and guilt he felt from hearing such accusations from his only family, who he always wanted to stand by.

He was so right.

Everything he said was perfectly reasoned, he thought.

Seto suffered because of him ... he couldn't help Noah back then ... and despite having spend so little time together he missed him so much!

With this knowledge, Mokuba felt a sudden wave of resignation, causing him to give up on resisting this deadly grip any longer. 

It couldn't be a dream anymore.

The pain he felt was far too real. And even worse:

He deserved it.

He constantly put Seto in danger.

Yugi and his friends also risked their lives to save him.

But for what?

Who was he helping ...?  
The road in front of him and the horizon became a shade of gray before his eyes and he witnessed his sight beginning to darken.

"... Don't worry ... I'll get you out of there... ''

And before Mokuba could even try to comprehend who this soothing voice belonged to, the world around him went completely black.

When he opened his eyes after what felt like an eternity, the cold was gone too and he was no longer on a road.

He was sitting on green grass; A wide meadow with a few hills and he could see a forest in the distance.

The sun shone from above, letting its light paint colorful pictures around him and even though it was slightly blinding for a second, he welcomed the warm light.

It was as if he had landed in the epitome of a beautiful spring day.

"Mokuba!"

"Seto...?'' he wondered. 

To his surprise, he now could finally hear himself again.

His voice was hoarse and brittle but at least it was there.

The adult Seto Kaiba approached him with calm steps and knelt before him.

"What happened? Your nose is bleeding ... Did you cry ...?" He asked and looked at the smaller one with concern.

With one sleeve he wiped briefly over the slightly smeared blood stains and tear marks on the face of his younger brother. 

Mokuba stared at the brunette, being too surprised to say anything.

There was nothing 'cold' about him.

On the contrary.

His voice and facial features conveyed nothing but calamity and his eyes were no longer like the icy threat from before.

They now resembled the blue of the bright sky above them. They radiated warmth.

"I'm sorry Seto..." Mokuba finally dared to speak up "I...it's all my fault... that you always... had to endure so much..." he started to sob and leaned forward to hug his brother tightly and bury his face in the fabric of the taller one's shirt.

"Mokuba..." Seto started to comfort the black-haired boy with his surprisingly soothing voice "Don't cry... you know that I'll always be there for you ... not because I'm forced to do it ... but because you are my brother... My little brother, who's always been with me. Don't forget about how you've always helped me as well... and you always want my best ... I don't need anything more ... even if I don't tell you enough, I love you Mokuba... '' In the meantime, the brunette's arms have wrapped around Mokuba this in a warm hug.

Immediately Mokuba was able to relax in this embrace. He just felt comfortable and as if no tears and no fear could get to him.

There was only peace and warmth.

"I love you too Seto ... I thank you so much ... ''A gentle breeze swept over the meadow and in a brief moment, in which Mokuba's gaze followed the direction of the wind, he saw a single turquoise rose standing out from the green meadow...

As Mokuba woke up, fluttering his sleepy eyes open, he saw his light-flooded room.

The rising sun stood so low, that Mokuba must have been woken up by its light shining onto his face

He blinked a couple of times and didn't move so that he could take a moment to get adjusted to the situation.

He was awake...

It was the first night in a long time, in which he hasn't been woken up in the middle of the night by the horrible events in his nightmares.

Right now a new and wonderful day started... 

From his large floor to ceiling windows he could see all of Domino from his room. 

Of course, living so high in the tower of Kaiba Corporation had its advantages and that included having the most beautiful view on the skyline when the sun was rising.

Mokuba's lips curved into a gentle smile.

"I love you..."

"I love you...? he would never say that," he muttered to himself, being half amused. 

It simply wasn't Seto's way of dealing with emotions like that.

However, he knew that his brother still loved him.

Mokuba was not alone.

He had Seto.

He had Seto and that's more than he needs to be happy. 

Still ... he felt that it wasn't just the image of Seto that saved him in that dream.

There was more to it than that ...He really wasn't alone ...

Some months later - ( Post-DSOD )

"Hey Yugi!" Mokuba's voice could be heard from Yugi's smartphone, on which he had just turned on the speaker as he placed on his desk so that he could do other things while talking to the young Kaiba "It's nice to see that my favorite 'Top-Duellist' finally managed to call me back... you know... after me, having called you about sixty-eighth times!" continued Mokuba, pretending to be annoyed, which Yugi knew was fake. 

It was already noon and the sun was shining brightly that day. 

However, Yugi had only been woken up a few minutes ago by the constant ringing of his cell phone.

Yugi's lips curved into a small smile at the attempt of his friend to make him feel bad, while he looked at himself in the mirror to fix his hairstyle in his 'morning' routine.

Even if it was worth the look, it was not easy to control this wild force of nature every morning.

"This 'Top-Duellist' was sleeping until now and not everyone can be up as early as you are on a regular Saturday Mokie~'' the young professional duel defended himself and deliberately used this nickname, that he recently learned about.

He had recently learned from Mokuba, that his brother used to call him "Mokie", which made it difficult for Yugi to refrain from laughing out loud. 

Even at the thought of it, an amused grin remained on his lips.

The cool and level-headed Seto Kaiba has a soft spot somewhere - using such a cute nickname for his little brother, who he had such a pronounced protective instinct for. 

That didn't surprise Yugi though.

After all, he'd seen this multiple times whenever Mokuba had been kidnapped.

Still. 

The thought of Kaiba calling Mokuba by this nickname was gold!

Just a year ago, Yugi probably would have never thought, that he would get to know such stuff about Seto and Mokuba and to be honest, sometimes Yugi wondered if he would ever get a nickname from the CEO as well - One that wasn't as condescending as the one Kaiba gave to Joey though...

Yugi snapped, a little puzzled by his own thoughts, before quickly shaking his head in embarrassment before speaking up again 

"I assume you were calling to warn me, right?" he asked while hurrying to his closet and digging out his dark tank top, plain jeans and his favorite blue jacket, which he recently bought because he somewhat liked the style of the blue jacket from his former school uniform.

"Oh being smart, aren't we~?" Mokuba joked before he continued "Seriously - Seto hardly slept the past days. He wanted to improve something on the Headset of the Solid Vision which sounded like a lot of 'Blah-Blah-complex-stuff-that-I-would-probably-understand-if-I-listened-Blah'. He didn't wanna talk much about it though..." Mokuba said "By the way - I still think it's kinda unfair that he tells you more about the project than he lets me know! As if I could talk to anyone but you and Ryou about it ...'' he complained.

"Oh come on Mokie! I always tell you everything afterwards!" added Yugi and smiled. 

It's true that the project Kaiba was working on was subject to the strictest confidentiality.

He remembered the stack of papers he had to sign all too well.

To sum it up: If he lost a word about the project to anyone Yugi would get into a lot of trouble. 

Lately, however, the older of the Kaiba brothers seemed to have stalled in the development of the final product.

His goal was to find a way to create an even more realistic duel experience using his advanced augmented reality, which, as far as Yugi was concerned, turned out to be practically impossible.

But Kaiba would somehow make it possible - That's for sure.

He often, however, forgot to take care of himself when he was too invested in his work.

He truly had an insatiable desire to keep moving towards the level of 'perfection'.

And although it was strange to admit this, as he wasn't quite sure what to expect from the offer Kaiba proposed him, Yugi was incredibly happy to be able to work with his former classmate and rival. 

After the pharaoh finally found peace, Yugi found it really difficult to suddenly establish himself as an independent duelist and often he just felt alone, but the worst thing for him was that he felt, as if he would be seen as nothing more than the host or the 'vessel' that once kept a true champion. 

Being provided with the opportunity to duel Seto in a fair way and eye-to-eye, was an incredibly rewarding experience.

"Anyways, he said that he needs to test the progress he made immediately and blah, blah, blah ... Well, I convinced him to get some sleep around 7 o'clock this morning, which means you have a couple of hours before he wants to duel you again.'' Mokuba said.

Yugi, who in the meantime got fully dressed, chuckled a bit before he rolled his eyes at the predictable mannerisms of the older Kaiba. 

That was just how the young billionaire was.

He pays no attention to others or to himself when he has set his mind on aiming for a certain goal- It was no different from his rivalry with the Pharaoh.

Involuntarily Yugi had to remember how often Seto has challenged him and at some point even threatened to commit suicide just so he could wi... 

Shaking his head at this bad memory, Yugi turned away from the mirror and took his cell phone from the desk.

"Thank you for telling me in advance and making him sleep at least a little, Mokie! A tired Kaiba would truly be challenging!" Yugi joked, thinking of various duels in the past few months in which the head of the Kaiba Corporation yawned, dismissing this as being bored by the 'lame duel', while cursing himself silently for being unable to concentrate.

Yugi would probably even find this amusing in a way if it weren't for him to actually be concerned about Seto.

"True. But that applies to all Kaibas who are affected by a lack of sleep... '' Mokuba sighed and sounded a bit bitter, which made Yugi furrow his brows.

Did something bother Mokuba?

"Well anyways..."Mokuba quickly tried to change the subject "I have given you some free time AND saved your nerves from a Seto, who would be slightly more annoyed than usual! I think you owe me at least one burger! No wait - What am I talking about? Two burgers! After all, it's already half-past twelve and I didn't have breakfast ... '' 

Somewhere along the lines of the younger Kaiba's burst of speech, Yugi forgot his concerns and laughed.

"Fine! Okay, you get your burgers and a milkshake from me~ Just tell me where and when.", Yugi said, feeling as if all the talking about food also made him extremely hungry.

"Great you're the best!" Mokuba cheered happily "How about Burger World? In about half an hour?'' the younger boy asked enthusiastically. 

Mokuba knew that Yugi almost always was free to meet him, but unlike his older brother, he was polite enough to at least sound like he was asking if Yugi hadn't planned anything else.

"Alright! See you then!"

And with these words he hung up. 

He took his wallet and his deck to put each in of the pockets of his jacket.

Who knows if he would get home before the upcoming duel after all?

He quickly went down the stairs, almost bumping into his grandfather, who stepped out of the kitchen and carried a small tray of tea and cookies, which fluctuated dangerously due to the two Mutos almost colliding.

Luckily the old man managed to keep his balance and exhaled in relief when he saw that not a single drop of tea had spilled over the rim of the cup.

"Yugi, I thought I wouldn't see you coming out of your room today!" his said in surprise "Where are you going?'' He asked with a smile. 

The old man was delighted to see his grandson being so enthusiastic. 

"I'm sorry grandfather! I just wanted to go out for a couple of hours! I gonna meet Mokuba at Burger World and I'll probably be working again in the evening!'' Explained Yugi while he took the tray from his grandfather and put it on the counter in the shop for him.

Fortunately, on Saturdays, it was so quiet in the shop before the evening hours so that the grandfather of the professional Duelist could sneak away into the kitchen from time to time to make a some tea.

"It's so nice that you get along so well! Since you all graduated you I barely see you doing anything with your friends at all...''

Meanwhile, Yugi unobtrusively moved his hand to the tray so he could take one of the biscuits from it.

"I know ... I hardly see the others anymore. Now that they have to take on mini-jobs or go to university, there is not much time left for other things ... But at least I see Ryou and Mokuba every now and then! And Joey luckily responds in no time when I text him!'' Said Yugi.

"Oh yes, it's really not that easy to get everyone together, is it? And after all, not everyone has your job!'' Laughed the older one "Which brings me to a request... You couldn't possibly have forgotten about the promise you made, right?"

Yugi suddenly became quite uncomfortable when his grandfather started talking about his job. 

The young duelist had already broken too many contract guidelines when he told his grandpa about their duels. Now his grandfather had to talk about it in the middle of the store - where customers could enter at any time!

"O-of course I didn't forget! But you need to be just a little bit more... patient... He doesn't want me to use my cell phone when we're there - even if it's only for taking pictures. I need to figure out how to get his permission first, okay?'' Yugi explained while he felt the chocolate-coated biscuit he was hiding in his hand oscillate between his fingers. 

The older man frowned.

"He asks you to a duel him in his 'cave of loneliness', which is - and this needs to be emphasized - in the ORBIT as if it were a cheap hotel room and you his acquaintance for the night! And then doens't even let you take one or two pictures for your grandpa?" The older man clarified before took a long sip of tea while Yugi blushed madly as he stared at his grandfather.

"G-Grandpa-!" Yugi stuttered because of the weird imagery the old man used.

Said one just laughed before he rose his voice again "It's okay Yugi, better go to your 'date' now. I'll wait for my picture, but don't forget that I'm not getting any younger~'' he said, wanting to take something from his plate, just to be left wondering what happened to the Cookie with the chocolate icing he swore he had seen there a moment ago.

The ones with grated coconut and cinnamon were all still there... 

"Ah - well yeah.. I'll see what can be done... bye!" Said Yugi hastily and dashed out of the game shop.

What was that supposed to do? 

Why was his grandfather talking about him and Seto in such a strange way...? 

He couldn't even find any words to describe how terribly uncomfortable he felt!

When Yugi suddenly felt that a little melted chocolate glaze smeared his palm, he remembered that he had actually just had 15 minutes left until he wanted to meet Mokuba at burger World. 

He quickly stuffed the stolen biscuit into his mouth and licked the chocolate off his hand before running. 

Even though you wouldn't expect it from the younger Kaiba - he somehow always managed to be there on time. As if he really cared a lot about punctuality.

Therefore, Yugi didn't want to make his friend wait too long for him!

Mokuba soon found himself admiring the beautiful image of three double cheeseburgers - from which two he'd claim as his-, a large serving of fries and a huge chocolate shake on the bistro table in front of him.

The youngest Kaiba awed at that sight as he hadn't eaten anything today.

"Thanks, Yugi ~!" He buzzed and excitedly took a bite of his first burger. 

Smiling, Yugi did the same with his own burger, "Oh come on! I'm glad that you woke me up and gave me a reason to leave my room prior to the duel~ Also, thanks to your brother I actually earn more than enough money to get you some quality fast food from time to time!'' he cheered.

Initially, it felt a bit weird to get paid by Kaiba for dueling him, but as the brunette literally insisted and over time he got used to it, though he still felt as if the amount he received was just way too high.

"You are aware of the fact, that this means you are literally buying me food with my family's money?" Mokuba stated "Which also means, that you didn't actually spend money but that I'm practically inviting you here?" he continued leaving Yugi staring at him dumbfoundedly. 

Yugi blinked in confusion before he puffed his cheek and thought about how he could respond to that.

A moment later he leaned over the table slightly - not saying a word - to take a huge sip of Mokubas chocolate shake, which made the black-haired teen gasp "Hey! '' 

Smirking, Yugi dropped back into his seat.

"Then I need thank the young gentleman for the invitation~ '' joked Yugi and continued to eat his own burger while Mokuba was already biting off his second burger. 

That boy could eat quite a lot in no time!

"Oh careful, Yugi~" Mokuba teased "If Seto could hear that he might end up getting jealous!" He said playfully.

Yugi, not quite having understood what Mokuba actually was referring to, only waved off this comment "Oh come on! He knows we're just friends ~ Besides, who would dare to get on your brother's bad side? No offense, but I'm afraid that, thanks to your brother, it could be quite difficult for you with something like dates!'' the young duelist said while imagining how the person who falls for Mokuba one day will probably have to go through hell, trying to somehow make Seto tolerate them.

Mokuba shook his head over how oblivious Yugi seemed to be.

"Oh, I think we have a misunderstanding here, my friend!" Mokuba began, over-exaggerating his serious tone "I meant that I would be the one to make Seto jealous because I am actually able to get you to meet me just for fun - without having to use any lame excuses, you know?" he said looking at Yugi, which, by the confused look on the other's face, validated that Yugi was absolutely clueless "I mean, what was it again, that he tested during your last duel?'' asked Mokuba, making the last bite of his burger disappear in his mouth so he could continue eating his fries.

Yugi seemed to think about it, as if he himself forgot.

"Umm ... That was last week ... What was it again...? Ah yes, I remember! He changed the color of the life point display from a medium blue to a bright cornflower blue and wanted to test whether it might be too bright and distracting during the duel... ''

Mokuba looked like he just heard the worst joke ever and Yugi, now that he thought about it, just now realized how ridiculous this sounded as he said it out loud.

There was absolutely no need for Kaiba to challenge him to a duel for such a minor change - He could have waited until he made several changes and they could have tested them all at once.

Not that Yugi would complain though...

On the contrary: he really did enjoy the duels with Kaiba. It actually felt like while doing that, for a few hours, being up there in Kaiba's orbital station, he could just forget all of he world's problems.

It had something of dream-like atmosphere to it and Yugi actually found himself noticing how calm Seto got when they were up there.

Perhaps Seto's intention was to distract Yugi by having space surrounding them or just to show off, but even if it did, he was actually happy to be allowed to be doing a job like this. 

Hoever, as Mokuba facepalmed Yugi's attention was on him again.

"Gods Yugi! Please don't get me wrong, but you're sometimes really dense Yugi." 

"What?" Yugi gasped "W-well... And you're full of junk food, but what are you getting at?" he asked, feeling a bit irritated which left him pouting a bit.

"Listen, it could be just my imagination but... I really do believe my brother spends most of his time thinking about something to have you around." Mokuba stated "He pays you a ridiculously high wage for playing a card game with him. You know what Imean? You two... being alone... and he brings you to the last place where someone could ever be interrupting you..." the younger brother of the CEO continued, not seeing any sign of realization on Yugi's face, which was almost frustrating. How could Yugi still not get what he was saying?! "Do you seriously want to tell me that you don't find the whole thing a little - no - highly questionable?'' he said with a raised eyebrow.

It took Yugi a bit, until he started to consider that Mokuba might be refering to...

Yugi blushed a bit and in an act of nervousity grabbed Mokuba's chocolate shake again to quickly to take a few sips so he had a few moments to think of an answer. 

Mokuba was right - This was suspicious...

"Take one more sip and I'll have you buying me a new one!" Said Mokuba while consuming his last fries.

Immediately, Yugi let go of the chocolatey milk-based drink and handed it back to Mokuba, who was now tampering with the rest of his drink and fixed every movement of Yugi with an expectant look.

He was still waiting for Yugi's statement.

Unlike Seto most of the time, you could read Yugi like an open book, which is why Mokuba had noticed for some time that Yugi no longer saw his brother as just a rival or even a friend.

Even if he tried to hide it at all costs, Seto was no different.

He was way too invested into planning his meetings with the young champion for his behavior to be considered normal... even for Seto's twisted version of 'normal' behavior.

Let's be honest - Nothing was ordinary about Seto Kaiba...

The two duelists were so blind to each other's obvious attachment to the other and fixated on hiding their feelings from themselves that they probably didn't even realize yet what they were actually feeling for each other.

Suddenly, Yugi's expression changed to one of concern. He looked up at Mokuba, who blinked in surprise at this look, and asked: "Mokuba, is everything alright?" 

Completely startled, the young Kaiba almost choked on his shake and blinked a little confused.

How did Yugi come up with such a weird change of subject?

"I- I mean... Earlier on the phone, it sounded as if something was wrong... Do you have any problems or are you stressed somehow...? Don't you dare to think I'd miss those dark circles." Yugi said while pointing at Mokuba's face " Don't you sleep well?''

During their phone call, Mokuba only made one comment referring to something troubling him but Yugi surely didn't forget as he deeply cared for all of his friends and always wanted to make sure he could at least offer some help.

"You know..." Mokuba said quietly while looking away, as if he had to be ashamed about something "There... really is something I wanted to ask of you... But I would rather discuss that somewhere where we are not heard.''

Now Yugi was curious.

What could be a topic that you cannot discuss here ...?

"Ok sure" Yugi said reassuringly smiling at him, hoping it would make Mokuba feel less uncomfortable "What place do you have in mind?" He asked the black-haired.

"Well ... I thought ... maybe you could come to our home tonight when you and Seto are done with work... then I'll tell you everything ... Ryou wanted to come as well... I kinda need you both...''

Yugi really didn't like how it suddenly seemed like there was nothing left of the usually cheerful attitude of Mokuba.

There had to be something really bad going on...

"Great, let's do that! I'm sure together we can find a solution to your problem! '' Yugi assured him and gave him a gentle smile, which also caused the young Kaiba to raise the corners of his mouth a little. "Thank you, Yu-"

Before Mokuba could finish his sentence his phone started ringing.

''Don't say if I were you ~ Or tell me what you'd do ~ How things would be - '' 

Inevitably, Yugi had covered his mouth in order to prevent himself from laughing.

A couple of months ago, when they secretly met at Kaiba Corp.'s building - luckily having Roland on their side so that Seto wouldn't find out - they strayed around the huge building. 

However, as the walked past Seto's bureau they couldn't resist peeking in, being rewarded by the image of Seto, completely immersed in his work, sitting in front of the computer and playing this song at full volume, whereby he even moved his lips to the text.

Since that fateful day, this would be Seto's personal ringtone on the two boys' cell phones.

Mokuba quickly unlocked his smartphone and held it to his ear.

"Hi, Seto! You up already?" Mokuba asked informally, making him sound kind of provocative "Is something wrong, Seto?'' He asked, obviously more cheerful than he sounded a few moments ago, which relieved Yugi.

"Where are you Mokuba? You know pretty well that you shouldn't leave the tower without at least one other person with you! We do have enough people working here - I mean it can't be too hard to find one who could accompany you, is it?" the voice at the other end of the line complained.

Mokuba could only smile at this.

He didn't tell anyone, because he was secretly happy to know that Seto notices when he's not there.

"Sorry, Seto" Mokuba started, faking the sorrow inhis tone while smirking at yugi, who could perfectly hear the conversation from the other side of the small table "But a friend owed me a favor - So I invited him for lunch!"

This statement confused the young company boss very much. 

"...ok...? ...Is that some kind of psychological warfare? Are you trying to make him feel guilty or ... wait- Mokuba you're having lunch with someone? Who?!" Seto asked in irritation.

Yugi put a hand over his mouth again and really had to pull himself together in order to not laugh out loud.

Mokuba grinned cheekily.

"If you want to call Burger World a restaurant, you could put it that way," he replied.

"Mokuba. I'll pick you up right now and your 'friend' may stay there until I arrive and deal with him personally." Seto stated, sounding a bit aggressive to which Mokuba only rolled his eyes.

If Seto knew...

Yugi quickly took Mokuba's phone and put it to his ear, "Ah I'm really sorry Kaiba but I heard I gonna be challenged to a duel later, so I don't know how much time will be left for you to 'deal with me personally'.'' Yugi said to which Mokuba almost cracked up. 

"... Yugi? '' Seto said, "You're at Burger world with my brother ...?" He asked to make sure he understood the situation correctly.

"You heard it Kaiba: I owed him a favor, so he invited me!" He explained with a grin. 

Seto remained silent for a few moments before clearing his throat.

"Well yeah, whatever... that's convenient though. Stay there you two. I'll come to and pick you up in a few minutes. I hope you have your deck with you, I don't really want to take detours.'' he said in a calm tone before he hung up without saying goodbye.

Now it was Mokuba Yugi's turn to snatch the cell phone out of Yugi's hand and in the same train he flicked the professional duel against the forehead.

"Ouch! Hey ... '' Yugi complained and ran a hand over the delicate skin on his forehead.

"First my milkshake, then my cell phone! Is that how you treat the guy who takes you out for lunch?" asked Mokuba, grinning cheekily.

The two laughed and as they waited to be picked up, they had no idea of what very soon would be coming at them. 

They had no idea yet.


	2. Chapter 2 "I'll leave it to you - Kuriboh."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the fluff begin!!(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ  
> .  
> .  
> . Though it needs to be crashed at some point again but no spoilers -ಥ_ಥ

Being overly annoyed by the traffic jam, which had held him on the streets of Domino City for about 20 Minutes now, Seto sighed and leaned his head against the cool windowpane.

He would have been there a lot quicker with his helicopter or if he just had walked there, but, to be honest, he was up for anything that could save him spending energy on unnecessary physical activities today.

Seto had never been a late riser.

He either had too much to do or he had too many thoughts running through his head that would keep preventing him from sleeping any longer than absolutely necessary.

But lately, due to his efforts on improving his solid vision software and arena equipment, he didn't seem to even consider making any compromise concerning cutting short on his work, which means there was no time for resting, sleeping or meals.

Secretly, he really appreciated that his brother would worry about him so much, that he would end up forcing him to go and get some sleep - standing up against his stubbornness.

He sometimes just needed this verbal reprimand and Mokuba was probably the only one who would provide it to him.

Currently, Kaiba Corporation was doing better than ever.

After announcing the Solid Vision, people would not cease to be excited and the longer the masses waited, the higher were their expectations, which left Seto with no other option than to provide them with the single most perfect product he can offer.

After managing to adapt the latest duel disks and arenas for the holographic reproduction of clearer and more realistic depictions of duel monsters, his company was already doing exceptionally great but with his latest project - from which he was convinced that it would be the ultimate connection of a duelist to the game itself and the high functioning database of Kaiba Corp - could get the augmented reality gaming experience to its highest level of performance.

Well, at least that was, what those who could afford it and those who weren't completely incompetent in the game would get.

But that wasn't all that was to this project.

He was pretty sure that with his progress so far he could even gain access to others' minds and thoughts and experience the full spectrum of sensory perception.

Your own mind briefly becomes part of someone else's, which would take everything augmented reality has provided you with up to now, to a whole new stage - one that Seto still had to fully explore.

The excitement of discovering such completely new and unpredictable paths really got Seto invested in his work more than ever.

About two months ago, Seto secretly gave his construction and technology departments the instructions for a piece of equipment that made all of this possible.

It was based on his own perfect solid vision, which he had already been using since that time when he wanted to resurrect the pharaoh and therefore had to deals with that Diva kid.

Almost half a week ago the first four prototypes have been constructed and kept hidden in the top floor of the Kaiba Corp. head quarter - ready to be used by anyone he would perceive to be capable of handling such refined technology, which was already so much more than dueling gear.

This information was, of course, inaccessible to the general public.

Not even Yugi knew about it, because he still thought Seto would bring him to work out the 'regular' - if you can call it that - solid vision.

He smiled slightly as he thought about how naive the boy with the spiky hair was.

He might be the better duelist, but he was way too oblivious about too many things.

Honestly: Seto didn't really need to get Yugi for the test phase of the Solid Vision anymore - since, at least, half a year everything was running flawlessly.

There was no issue left.

Absolutely nothing, which they shouldn't have discovered and corrected a long time ago.

The lightweight design and technology of the device were a state of the art. No one could even think about competing with it in the foreseeable future.

The reason for continuing his duels with Yugi was simply because Seto enjoyed them.

A lot.

His first serious duel with Yugi Mutou, the champion -which was interrupted by that whole Plana incident- set a clear signal for Seto.

With only 100 remaining life points, he was deeply shaken ... and impressed.

The small, feeble-looking boy glared at him with such willpower and determination, that at the same time he felt something that he had only felt for the Pharaoh before - Yet knowing that it was Yugi he faced.

Seto truly realized that he was wrong for such a long time.

Yugi was not just the host or the shell, the king of the games, he himself became him.

Initially, he struggled to win Yugi over to accept his offer to work with him, and additionally, it had felt amazing and weird at the same time to meet up with the spiky-haired duelist regularly, knowing that he would face his defeat every single time.

But he honestly still enjoyed it.

Now half an hour has passed since the phone call with his brother and finally Seto got to see that obnoxious 'Burger world' sign.

Fuguta, needed up to half of the space the fast-food parking lot offered to park the luxurious limousine, whereupon some bypassers, started whispering wildly and speculating which celebrities might have strayed into Burger World.

Seto rolled his eyes in annoyance at the sight of people gathering around him.

He quickly got out and simply pushed past the dumbfounded ordinary people who surrounded him so that he could enter the restaurant.

Seto wrinkled his nose as the strong smell of saturated fats filled the air and he could feel the migraine coming up solely by the noises that those people caused with their children.

He stepped further into the restaurant - as inconspicuously as his appearance allowed him to be - and looked started looking out for his brother and Yugi.

He had to stop from time to time because some children crossed his path, probably playing around and laughing, which ticked Seto off immensely, as he never liked seeing happy people when he was annoyed.

Finally, at the very back in a corner, he finally saw two boys who he claimed to know very well despite...

...the absolutely ridiculous sight they now offered to him.

He stopped behind a pillar and did not take his eyes off the table Mokuba and Yugi were sitting at.

A huge pile of printed paper, which Seto could make out as burger wrapping was taking up most of the surface.

There were also 3 large cups - which seemed to have been filled with milkshakes once - two smaller cardboard boxes, in which you could see a few leftover fries, and two colorful torn bags, which had the word 'Surprise!' printed on them multiple times.

This infantile picture was rounded up by a couple of colorful balloons floating from their chairs.

Seto never wanted to be non-existent more than at this very moment.

"The kid's menus are great! Thanks for talking me into buying them! though I thought we wouldn't have enough time before Seto picks us up!'' Yugi said cheerfully.

Mokuba smiled in satisfaction at that.

"Thanks to you I've been to Burger World so often but I never tried those out! And the last time I had a floating balloon was back then when I was like ten or eleven years old at some fair with Seto... ''Mokuba said with a smile but sighed at the memory.

"Oh, by the way!" Yugi said to get Mokuba's attention so that he wouldn't get sad over not being able to spend as much time with Seto as he'd like to "I think this suits you way better than me!'' the rather small duelist added while leaning over the table so he could attach some kind of accessory that his lucky-bag contained into Mokuba's hair.

The black-haired boy blinked in surprise and quickly got out his smartphone so he could use the reflection on its display to see, that the hair clip he now wore had the shape of a kitschy tiara set with glittering rhinestones.

Almost cracking up at that Mokuba flashed Yugi an amused smile "Oh wow~ Our 'King of Games' gives up on his crown ~?'' he asked and quickly took out the headband with brown plush ears, which was in his own 'surprise'-bag, to put it onto Yugi's head, who seemed to be just as surprised as Mokuba was a few moments ago.

"Then I'll declare you to be my loyal duel monster! I command you to be fluffy and cute!" The young Kaiba said with a laugh.

Yugi meanwhile, trying not to laugh, tied one balloon off of his chair and opened the knot, which helped to contain the air and helium inside of it.

"Wait a minute, Yugi, what are you doing you-?"

The black-haired boy could not even continue before Yugi sucked in an exaggerated breath of the helium.

"BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I'M KURIBOOOOOH! LET'S BE THE BEST FRIENDS!" he suddenly cooed in a startlingly loud and squeaky chipmunk voice.

Seto looked like his system has shut down for good, while Mokuba just laughed to his heart's content.

Now Mokuba grabbed the balloon from Yugi's hand and took a deep breath of what was left inside "AND I AM PRINCESS ADENA! IT WOULD BE A SUCH AN HONOR KURIBOH!" Mokuba said in an equally loud and annoyingly shrill voice.

They both laughed again, while Seto was now officially done.

The modern-time 'King of Duelists' and his own little brother, a member of a billion-dollar company, were currently wasting their time in a cheap burger stall, crammed with garbage, and seemed to have mentally evolved - backwards - to the age of four.

"Whatever this freak show is supposed to be, I hope it's over now." Seto said as he left his hiding spot from behind the column to stop in front of the teenagers sitting at the bistro table with his arms crossed over his chest - looking down on them in judgment.

Out of shock, Mokuba released the balloon in his hand, which had it flying through the air almost comically before, out of all places, it landed in the brown hair of the young billionaire.

He blinked a couple of times before Yugi burst out laughing and rose from his chair to remove the now flat balloon from Kaiba's head, while - in the same move - he straightened some messy strands of the brunette's hair.

Mokuba scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and tried his best to refrain from laughing, though it was clearly visible how hard it was for him not to join Yugi's laughter.

Seto was quite irritated about the fact, that Yugi was so close to him, laughing about him while having no shame of brushing his soft hands through his hair in order to fix it.

Doing that without giving the CEO any warning or time to mentally prepare...!

'How can he just-?!' Seto almost mentally freaked out, before he heard his brother speak up.

"Oh! Hi Seto!" Mokuba started nervously "Didn't see you there~ Haha...~ H-How long have you been here ...?'' He asked, hoping that the change of subject would lead to a conversation that would distract his brother from what he had just witnessed.

"Long enough Princess Adena." Seto said sternly, emphasizing the fake-royal title Mokuba had given himself based on that old game Kaiba once created.

Mokuba pressed his lips together and looked away, blushing slightly as he had no idea what to say now, while Yugi who sat back into his chair really couldn't pull himself together and continued laughing until Mokuba slightly kicked his leg under the table, to which Yugi squealed and quickly replied with mouthing the word 'sorry' - still being visibly amused.

Slightly relieved, that Yugi had sat back Seto cleared his throat and tried to look focussed but Mokuba didn't take that. He clearly saw that Seto was taken aback by that sudden approach of Yugi's, which made Mokuba forget about his embarrassment and grin at Yugi, who now seemed to be confused by that look on his friends face.

"So? Are you two finished?'' Seto asked impatiently.

"Almost!" Yugi hummed, taking one of the cardboard boxes off the table.

Apparently, they also had chicken nuggets from which three had been left over.

The young professional duelist picked one of them with a clean tissue and held it out to Seto, from who he'd known he'd instantly reject it if Yugi would have personally touched it.

"There's a piece left for each one of us!" He smiled at the tall young man, while the youngest Kaiba brother ate his own chicken nugget.

Seto blinked and then narrowed his eyes, "Thanks, but I prefer not to unnecessarily endanger my health condition by exposing my body to such junk food" he said monotonously.

"Oh, is that so~?" Yugi said in a daring tone, which had both Kaiba's surprisedly looking at him "Our big CEO, top duelist AND head of the Kaiba Corporation is worried about some piece of breaded fried chicken?'' Yugi asked while eyeing the brunette intensely. "Well, if that's the case and you refuse to sleep or eat properly, then how exactly do you plan to ever defeat me, Seto~?" Yug said, still holding the chicken nugget up to Seto's face for him to take.

In such a brief moment that hardly anyone could have seen it, Seto grabbed the chicken nugget and let it disappear in one aggressive bite before he turned around, chewing the - admittedly tasty - piece of shredded meat while attempting to leave.

"Now stop wasting my time and follow me!" he hissed and strode straight to the exit, whereupon the two boys followed him - leaving behind a nice tip for the employees who now had to clean up the mess they left...

__

According to his watch, it was just 5:08 p.m. in Japan.

Mokuba was immediately brought back home but not without repeatedly reminding Yugi via text, so that Seto wouldn't find out about it, that he had promised to visit him after work.

He was really worried about what might be bothering Mokuba, but at the moment it was extremely difficult for the young duelist to concentrate further on it.

5 p.m. ...

It was just in the afternoon ...

When Yugi looked through the large windows of the space station, however, he looked into an eternal night sky.

He put his hand on the glass as if he could reach out to the stars and a warm smile came across his face.

It was just so beautiful.

Seto was not far behind him and could see the other's gaze in the reflection of the window.

He himself knew that the smaller one always wore the same look of fascination, whenever he brought him up to this place...

...which is why he always continued bringing him back here.

First of all, he had to admit that he just wanted to impress the smaller duelist and flex a little bit.

However, when he saw how the spiky-haired boy actually reacted, he couldn't help but come up here with him over and over again.

The two of them were all alone.

Above the surface of the world and its' problems -Facing the limitless expanse of the universe.

Yugi's fascinated smile softened as he thought about how lucky he was.

"That you always bring me up here..." he started silently - almost inaudible for Seto "...You are much more generous than you admit to yourself Seto...'' he finished, speaking his thoughts out softly, almost in a whisper.

"Pardon ..?'' Seto raised his eyebrow since he was already preparing the duel disks of the two and didn't really listen to the boy.

"Ah! I only asked: Who should start this time?" Yugi lied and quickly took the expensive prototype - duel disc Seto was holding out to him.

"I'll leave the first turn to you, Kuriboh." Seto said, properly adjusting his disc on his arm, while not even trying to hold back the grin he flashed at Yugi, who had to blink a few times in confusion before he realized that he was still wearing the hairband from Mokuba's surprise bag.

Blushing a little bit Yugi gasped, before ultimately shaking his head and smiling firmly.

Though he never needed one, he would consider this to be a lucky charm...

"Well Seto, then it's time for a duel!''


	3. Chapter 3: "Mokuba's room"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a mess. I'm a mess. Mokuba is a mess and I want to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let minor mistakes slip / Correct me but please be kind I didn't get enough sleep and I'm sad and tired-

"You guys sure took your time!" Mokuba said as he smiled and ran over to the two duelists, who have just arrived in the large hall of the Kaiba Corporation's HQ. Roland calmly followed the younger Kaiba and greeted his young boss alongside the black-haired boy, "Welcome back," he said.  
"And may I guess who won ~?" The younger Kaiba asked curiously, whereupon his older brother gave him a slightly annoyed look.   
It was clear who won. Everyone knew about this.  
Seto let that slide, since he wanted to support his brothers more confident attitude… but that didn't mean he’d always let Mokuba make fun of him.  
"Hey Moki -... Mokuba!" Yugi corrected himself before addressing the black-haired man with the nickname he is now used to. He knew that it would definitely bother Kaiba if he did this, as he always gave an annoyed snort when he noticed how close they were.  
“Roland, would you escort Yugi home, it's getting late and I still have a lot of business to take care of. I’ve seen enough of Domino City for today.'' Kaiba said sternly. It usually went down like that, so Yugi didn’t take that as a cold goodbye any longer. He liked to believe that he knew Kaiba well enough by now to interpret this as his way of saying “I’m acting all cool and unfaced because I don’t know how to properly interact with people.”, Yugi understood Kaiba so far. That didn’t mean he liked being left behind like a used tool.   
Just as Kaiba wanted to leave for the Headquarter's main building, Yugi remembered how earlier he promised Mokuba to stay with him, which would be a bit difficult if he were to be sent home now.  
Naturally, Seto did not allow Mokuba to spend the night anywhere. Thus, Yugi and Ryou actually managed to sneak into the company building with Mokuba’s help so that they could stay overnight. It was a hassle but it’s always been worth it – For Mokuba even more so because he was longing for those normal meetings with friends.   
He might be a future entrepreneur but he was also just a boy and he wanted to relax and talk and play games with real people who he could trust.   
Roland mostly knew about this. He never let Kaiba know about the boys’ visits as he was really happy with how well the young Kaiba was being treated by his friends.  
"Hold on for a second, Seto." Mokuba grabbed the sleeve of his brother’s shirt, which made the brunette stop and raise an eyebrow. "You’re not going to wear that ‘thing’ day and night again, do you?" The younger Kaiba asked and pointed to the device around Seto's right forearm, which had a wireless connection to the slim headset. Mokuba knew about how the solid vision would collect, analyze, and transfer data just as Seto needed it to happen. He could check cameras and get access to data he shouldn’t get access to. It was honestly terrifying to Mokuba and he wondered how his older brother was going to deal with all of the privacy policy issues but one thing after another. If Seto would wear this thing it could ruin his plans.  
Even if the Kaiba brothers didn’t talk much about the technology behind the company's productions, the younger one wasn’t completely unaware of what was going on. While Kaiba would keep talks on a simple level, talking about what the Solid Vision should be able to do when it was completed, Mokuba was quite smart himself, and by observing the development process as much as he could he managed to find out about some of the functions of the Solid-Vision himself.   
However, he now constantly had to talk his brother into taking the device off just for some time throughout the day. He didn’t want Seto to constantly have an eye on literally everything which was going on in Domino City, with the exception of Mokuba’s room. He literally had to beg his brother to let him a little bit of privacy in his room, so ultimately there were no cameras and no audio recordings made in there. Seto could at least give him this much of some private space, even if he was reluctant to be restricted in his possibilities to use the solid vision.  
“Yugi has already taken off his Solid Vision, Seto. The duel is over, so why do you keep wearing yours?''  
"Well, Yugi doesn’t technically own one, Mokuba.” Seto clarified. Yugi has used this device so often, that by observation everyone would believe it’s his own. Seto actually made some configurations like the color scheme being overall purple and generally matching Yugi’s appearance and style more than his light blue standard design. However, he would never admit he did so. “Yugi is just testing one of MY devices, Mokuba. I’m the one who invented the solid vision so it’s only natural for me to wear it as often as I can. I should and definitely would be the first one to find flaws in the system so there’s no way around it." He stated.  
Yugi rolled his eyes for a moment, thinking to himself ‘If you can do that all by yourself, why would you keep inviting me?’. Of course, that would remain a thought in his head because after all those Kaiba’s ego was not to be messed with. Sometimes Seto really did act like a power-obsessed child.  
"Besides, I already promised you not to snoop around in your privacy, what do you take me for?" He continued. He expected his brother to take him by his word if he gave him a promise.   
“I know… But… I guess I just think it’s a bit crazy to see you wearing this… even in your ... uh ... I guess free time ...?'' Shaking his head he continued, "In any case, you should act a little more like a human… This may be Kaiba Corp. but it’s also your house and you’re not a cyborg…?" he said looking up to his brother with a pleading face.   
Seto eyed his little brother intently before letting out a sigh. Mokuba was far too good at using his puppy eyes. Seto ended up demonstratively taking off the headset and loosening the device around his arm.   
"You're lucky that I won't be working on it anymore for today, but don't expect me to stop wearing the Solid Vision in general just because we’re at home." he explained as he runs his free hand, which was not holding the delicate electronic equipment, through his hair to set the bangs the headset messed up straight.   
"Thank you, Seto!" The little boy cheered and briefly hugged his big brother. Seto was caught off guard by that and hated himself for letting a hardly noticeable blush creep onto his cheeks.  
He had no problem with hugging his brother as long as the two were alone. But right now Roland and Yugi were in the room. He could basically feel the young duelist’s eyes on him and see his amused smile. Of course Yugi would smile like an idiot about this, this was perfect material for him to tease Seto with in the future and the young CEO absolutely didn’t like the prospect of that.  
Sighing, he ran one hand through the hair of his younger brother, whereupon Mokuba broke the hug while exclaiming "Hey my hair!" He pouted and quickly tried to get some order in it.   
"If that’s all, I'll go back to my bureau now." Seto said calmly, with the slightest hint of a triumphant smile on his face as he turned on his heel and left.  
Mokuba let out a huff and turned to face Yugi now "I think we’re good to go now." Mokuba said when only the teenagers and the CEO's right hand remained.   
"Alright." Yugi agreed, not letting his smile falter as the scene the Kaiba brothers just presented him was ridiculously wholesome. It might have bothered him a bit that Seto talked down to everyone and it might hurt a bit whenever Kaiba pretended he couldn’t care less about anyone but after all he wasn’t just like that the whole time. He had his nice moments when he would mess up his brother's hair, call Yugi ‘Kuriboh’ jokingly and eventually allow himself to smile and just be more open.   
Yugi really liked that about Seto Kaiba.  
"Oh I almost forgot about that!" Yugi gasped and blushed a little bit as he pulled the plush headband off his head. They were going to talk about Mokuba’s problems after all and he didn’t want to ridicule the situation by wearing this…  
Roland accompanied the boys to the door of Mokuba's room, left them with an obligatory ‘goodbye’ and a warning, yet considerate look as if he would be saying ‘Be careful not to get caught by anyone’.   
Mokuba quickly opened the door, pushed Yugi inside, and swiftly entered after him before locking the room from the inside.  
“Finally! You two surely took your time'' Ryou Bakura sat there cross-legged and smiling up to his friends who just entered the room.   
In front of him, there was a rather large, red-bound book, a couple of blankets and a bottle of water, as well as what seemed to be about a dozen tealight candles and a lighter.   
Yugi tilted his head in confusion as he saw all of this before he looked at Ryou with a soft smile – The confusion still noticeable “It’s good to see you, Ryou! I don't know what you're up to, but if I had known we’d be having a romantic candlelight nap on the floor, I would have dressed more appropriately.'' Even if Yugi wanted to be serious, he couldn't resist making this comment.   
Mokuba nudged Yugi’s side with his elbow playfully as he said "First sit down, Yugi. We'll eventually get to cuddle later." He joked and sat down as well.  
Now the three sat in a circle on the floor, with the book, the candles, and the water between them.   
Yugi looked back and forth between Mokuba and Ryou expecting them to explain what’s going on but somehow they didn't seem to know what to say and Yugi was getting nervous.   
“Okay… Listen up guys I’m really curious now so if you don’t tell me what this is all about I might go crazy“ He finally said. Ryou ended up looking at Yugi with a serious expression. One that he would rarely wear since the evil spirit of Bakura left him.   
"We want to try something and we need your help for that to work." The white-haired student said.   
Before Yugi could ask any further questions, Mokuba intervened: “But I want you to promise me not to laugh or… to think I’m crazy… I’m serious about what I’m going to tell you and you two are the only ones I could ever share this with…'' he said. There was an uncertainty in Mokuba’s voice as if it was the natural reaction of Ryou or Yugi to make fun of him and the spiky-haired duelist didn’t like this at all. Mokuba probably really had a hard time dealing with whatever the issue was.   
With a reassuring look, Yugi simply nodded to which Mokuba smiled thankfully. He told Ryou about this before and bringing up this story for the first time was admittedly harder but it’s still not something to be done that easily.   
“Some time ago… Well… I don't exactly remember when it started… and for how long this is going on now… But I started to have really… really bad nightmares…” Mokuba started.   
The way he spoke lead Yugi to believe that he was getting nervous. He was talking in a way that had Yugi believing that it was just too hard for Yugi to even finish one sentence before throwing in another thought and trailing off. Poor Mokuba. Ryou was listening as well, but it was his second time now and he was lighting the candles they got while Mokuba was talking.   
“…I don't want to talk about the nightmares… I mean the content of my dreams… it was horrible…” Mokuba had to take a deep breath before he kept going “So horrible that on some nights I didn't want to sleep at all. I just didn’t want those dreams to come back over and over again…'' he explained while his eyes followed the little dance of one of the small flames tea lights.   
It was as though he needed a couple of seconds to think about what to say next to not mess it up.   
To make the Pro Duelist understand him.   
Yugi put a hand on his shoulder, giving Mokuba a worried look. "I see that you have a hard time telling me this Mokie ... But I already promised you I’d take you seriously, didn’t I? I'm just getting more and more worried... '' he said calmly, which did a great deal in calming Mokuba down.   
"Thank you Yugi ..." he said and there was a small smile on his mouth before he continued, "At some point… I don’t know… maybe around a year ago, because I recall that back then we haven’t actually been friends back then, I had such a nightmare again. And as always, it was… well… I was really scared. But before it got really bad, the dream changed. There was a voice that told me it would take me away from there and the dream suddenly became different. I was in a quiet and beautiful place, a much better one I could make up on my own... Until this moment, I haven't slept through the night for quite a while and I actually thought I was going insane but this voice saved me... '' Mokuba said as he smiled sadly, "This is still a reoccurring dream. I fall asleep and I’m left alone in a cold place, not knowing what will come at me, but then this warm, comforting feeling comes back and that voice speaks to me again... and everything turns out to be just fine again. The nightmares don't scare me anymore but… I don't want to go on like this forever. I’m sure I’m not making this voice up, Yugi. As crazy as it sounds, I believe that it belongs to someone who wants to help me... '' he said in a much calmer and collected manner. He seemed to be more determined to get Yugi to believe him just as much as he believed in his idea of that voice speaking to him.  
Yugi blinked a couple of times.   
Admittedly, that was a lot to take in at once.  
Nonetheless, the spiky-haired man was not going to let any of his doubts get the better of him when it came to his friends, so he wanted to know more.   
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Yugi asked, smiling gently to let Mokuba know he was with him but the younger one couldn’t bring himself to look up to him while answering his question.  
That was the craziest part of the story.  
"I think it's Noah's voice," he said finally.   
Yugi was silent for a moment, trying to register what he just heard before speaking up again, "Noah?" he asked, visibly shocked “You mean Noah Kaiba?” Yugi asked in order to clarify what Mokuba was saying “M-Mokie are you absolutely sure about this...?''   
The black-haired Kaiba didn’t dare to speak up and nodded silently. Yugi stared at him. Mokuba fixated his gaze on some point on the floor now. No signs of joking, no trace of his generally positive nature. He really believed the voice he claimed to hear was the dead boy they encountered in the virtual world. It felt so distant to Yugi now, as if it happened years ago.   
Mokuba has already told him about how it all ended for Mokuba and Noah on the way to the Battle City finale.   
Yugi recalled how Mokuba brought it up, how sad he got, and how he thought that this was an incredibly tragic situation. The initially vengeful son of Gouzaburo Kaiba, who had to die at such a young age, changed his mind because of Mokuba’s kindness and actually saved him and everyone from the evil doings of the former CEO of the Kaiba Corporation. After hearing this, Yugi pretty much has Noah redeemed himself.   
The pro duelist lowered his gaze and couldn't help but think that this whole thing was just unfair.  
“He promised me that we would meet again, Yugi. I know that he wanted to protect us... '' Mokuba began to talk again “... and I know, that he died back then ... but I'm one hundred percent sure that it is him who I’m hearing. You may think about me what you want now, but I just know it’s his voice!'' He said, getting a bit louder towards the end as he was getting desperate to make Yugi finally say something. Whether he agreed or disagreed.  
Yugi was a bit taken aback by his friend's outburst and he let his eyes wander to Ryou, who seemed to be similarly convinced that they had to assume this was actually what’s going on with Mokuba.   
Ryou was absolutely convinced that Mokuba was serious about everything he said and Yugi should be as well.   
Whatever doubt or uncertainty Yugi felt vanished and he let out an exhausted sigh.  
After everything they have experienced so far, with the Millennium objects, the god cards, the Plana, and whatnot, it was actually not as much of an absurd idea that a spirit or a soul or something else was trying to reach out to Mokuba.   
After all, Yugi and Ryou both used to share their bodies with ancient Egyptian ghosts.   
“I understand. Mokuba, I'm glad shared this with us... And I believe you.'' Yugi said calmly to which Mokuba closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to get rid of his slight shaking, being absolutely thankful that his friends were so understanding.   
He just felt as if an immense burden fell off his chest. "Thank you Yugi ... Thank you Ryou ... you two are just the best!" he thanked them letting a confident smile replace his once nervous expression.  
Ryou waved this off with a smile and said: “No need to thank us Mokuba! But now that you've told Yugi about it, we should also let him know about what we're going to do with this stuff.''  
Yugi had to admit that he was clueless about how those tealights and a book are going to help in this situation but the more he thought about the more he got the feeling that this was going to end up in some kind of ghost summoning and it somewhat concerned him.  
“Mokuba…” Yugi said, "You’re not telling me that you want to talk to him right now, are you?” He asked, it might be a misassumption.   
He’s seen enough films and read enough manga in which ghost summoning lead to… pretty bad endings.   
"Don’t worry, we won’t have to ‘talk’ with anybody. I was looking up various practices and the one I chose, even though it has its own set of risks, seems to be the one with the lowest risk of anyone getting hurt.” Ryou answered for Mokuba “ Mokuba and you are going to focus on the person you want to talk to. In this case, you have to think about Noah.” He said and looked at Yugi “Just try to remember Noah as much as you can, even though you might not have to spend as much time with him. It’s just safer to have two people involved in this who know have met the person we want to get in contact with.” Ryou clarified “I will guide you through this. Mokuba told me that Noah would avoid any direct conversation and instead keep leaving him symbols or signs as answers. When I was younger and I noticed that something was wrong with me ... well obviously I wasn't sure what that was all about, so I spent a while doing my research on how to identify and get in contact with supernatural beings. In the end, the evil spirit I had inside me started talking to me on his own but I remembered this method I wanted to try as I thought it might help I Mokuba’s situation.” He explained as he looked at Yugi before adding: "I know that you are worried about how this is going to turn out, Yugi. Those worries are justified because a tiny mistake could lead to things going wrong. Very wrong. But I still believe that, if we are careful, we can help Mokuba. And I am ready to try this - I hope you feel the same way.''  
For a moment there was silence and you could only hear the ticking of the alarm clock, which was on Mokuba's bedside table and which seems to be pretty much the only non-LED clock in the whole building.   
The furniture in Mokuba’s room was far less modern than in the rest of the tower and pretty much the only thing that reminded you of the fact that Mokuba was incredibly rich was the probably largest TV screen Yugi has ever seen in a room – probably taking up most of the space on Mokuba’s wall. It was probably anything glamorous Mokuba could wish for since he only used it to play video games on the various consoles he owned. Other than that you could almost think that this room could belong to any teenager in domino city. Any boy who isn’t the little brother   
“Of course, you can count on me.'' Yugi finally said and was quickly pulled into a tight hug by the young Kaiba.  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Mokuba repeated himself over and over while Yugi was trying to breathe, gasping for air and trying to loosen Mokuba’s incredibly strong grip.   
"You too Ryou! I can’t thank you guys enough!” He turned to the fair boy, once he let go of Yugi, and pulled him into an equally crushing hug.   
“I- It’s alright Mokuba! B-but, please…! Let me breathe…!” Ryou said as he tried to free himself from the deadly grip of Mokuba Kaiba.   
As Mokuba let go of him he cleared his throat and picked up the red book from the floor.  
“I’m going to use this book because it has a clear description of this method to contact dead souls I told you about. It should work, given that they were a person you have met before. This will require you both to be focused. I can’t stress this part enough. Just stay focused on who you want to reach out to and for what reason.'' He began while opening the book and turning some pages until he found the one he was looking through the book and stopped at the right page. "We’re going to try out a form of contact-meditation. If it works, you will both will be in a state which allows you to ‘invite’ another spirit to connect to you without it becoming a part of this world, as he cannot just stay here while he is supposed to be dead. The reason why it is important to stay focused is, that thinking only about Noah will make sure that there is no open gateway for who knows what to be able to get to your souls. The human soul is stronger than you’d assume, given that we are in complete control over our thoughts and that we keep a clear mind, alright?” Ryou reassured and hoped that they would listen carefully.  
“What if we don't concentrate?” Yugi finally asked. “Let’s say I get distracted or... I don’t know… What will happen if we do not stay focused?” he further wanted to know.  
“There is no definite answer to that.” Ryou said “And if you feel like you cannot concentrate for whatever reason it might be better if we do this on another day… Usually, it shouldn’t be a big problem to bring you back from your meditative state if you were to just lose your focus… but if another being takes advantage of the path you created to your soul… We don’t want that to happen Yugi. My job is to ensure that you slowly get into that meditative state and to make sure that you get out of it securely. Without any disturbance. If you were to just be torn out of it, it might have a really bad outcome.''   
Ryou kept going by explaining how they should go to the bathroom and then drink just a little bit of water so that they wouldn’t get distracted by upcoming thirst or the need to do what you do in the bathroom during meditation. Mokuba and Yugi immediately followed this advice while Ryou made sure all the candles were lit and everything was in its place.  
All three of them turned off their cell phones and placed them on Mokuba's bedside table so that they wouldn’t make any sound if someone decided to call them. Mokuba switched off the headlight in his room so that the dim candles were their only source of light.  
“Okay now, make yourself comfortable. Your feet should touch the ground though, so don’t sit cross-legged. You might start seeing things or hearing voices and you might even ‘feel’ something. You mustn't dismiss this as imagination, as this could unsettle the person you are looking for, causing them to leave again. You might feel cold, if I notice that you start to shiver I’ll cover you up with a blanket. Your main focus right now is to get Noah to talk to you. I doubt we will be bothered by anyone now, but if that happens, don't let your attention wander to anything but yourself and your task. If someone knocks at this door, we have to ignore it. We’ll just pretend Mokuba is sleeping.''  
Even though the two dark-haired boys became more and more nervous, they nodded. They would take this seriously and try their best.   
They sat next to each other, making sure their feet touched the ground and waiting for Ryou to tell them what to do next. It was silent, there was barely any light in the room and the ticking of the alarm clock made Yugi feel a bit restless.  
Ryou inspected everything, checking twice if they sat correctly and if they would sit too close to the candles to accidentally push them over before he spoke up again.  
“Okay, now close your eyes ...”

The two boys in front of Ryou seemed to be doing just fine. Their chests calmly rising and falling, indicated that they were actually focusing on what he told them to do. They seemed to be calm – He dared to let out a relieved sigh, obviously keeping his voice as quiet as possible.   
It seemed like they were already in a state in which they would just ignore the world around them. He couldn’t know what was going on inside their minds but he would watch them for any sign of danger. If they’d start hyperventilating or if they would twitch - just change their expression - he would eventually have to end this and get them out of their meditative state.  
Ryou has thought about this for a long time. He himself knew that this could be dangerous. He didn’t like having to revert to such methods but he couldn’t ignore Mokuba’s problems. He could vividly remember how Mokuba approached him about this for the first time and how he was crying and visibly disturbed. If they wouldn’t do something about it, it wouldn’t do any good to Mokuba as well. He was the type who didn’t want to bother anyone, so he would just stop bringing it up at all and Ryou knew just too well that this could cause much more pain to the teenager.  
Initially, Ryou even tried to get Mokuba to talk to an expert, maybe a therapist, just to make sure those weren’t bad dreams with roots in some other underlying problems he might have, but Mokuba didn’t want to do that at all, mainly because he didn’t want to believe that the voice he heard might not be the real Noah Kaiba – but also because he feared that Seto would find out about this and think his younger brother would be insane.  
He couldn’t force Mokuba to do anything but he also couldn’t watch him continue to suffer.  
Mokuba had told Ryou about what happened during the Battle City tournament and how he felt extremely guilty about the fact that Noah couldn’t get back to the real world. He also told him about Noah telling him that they would get to see each other again.  
Ryou didn’t know what to believe at this point, so even though it seemed to be the more convenient answer to assume Mokuba has a psychological issue, which causes him to dream such things he just didn’t want to dismiss the possibility that Noah might actually be true to his word by somehow connecting with Mokuba through his dreams.  
But if this was the case, what would happen after this evening? Would Mokuba be satisfied with just making sure he was right or wrong? Would he continue to have nightmares? With all the progress in science and technology, Ryou would not be surprised if someday they would find an opportunity to let a ‘deceased’ person live on in something like an artificial body. After having an ancient spirit torment him for most of his youth to fight a pharaoh, this would most certainly not be the craziest thing that could happen in the life of Ryou Bakura.  
Suddenly, he noticed something.  
His gaze fell on a tea light that was in front of Mokuba. It started to flicker and burn a bit lower, while the others seemed to have a nice and calm flame. Ryou carefully got closer to inspect the situation. It kept flickering as if a light breeze was brushing over it, attempting to extinguish the fire without really getting there.   
He knit his eyebrows before looking up to Mokuba again.   
Nothing suspicious. He was sitting quietly, his expression just as calm and collected as he hoped it would be. Maybe he was overreacting but this was still strange. It couldn’t be the wind and if it was Mokuba, which he doubted since he wasn’t sitting close enough to the candles to let his breath get there, more than one candle would be affected.

It didn’t take long for Mokuba to feel dizzy as he was following Ryou’s instructions. He couldn't quite tell whether he was asleep or awake because at some point he just no longer heard his friend's voice.  
He tried to think about nothing else than Noah. He remembered his voice, his appearance, their conversations. He tried to think about it, again and again, not sure if it was working or not. He just wanted to have him near him right now. He thought about that moment when Noah changed his mind and saved him instead of taking over his body and living his life. He could have done that but he didn’t. He has a heart and he most certainly didn’t deserve to die!   
As he thought all of this, Mokuba felt a strange sensation. As if, just for one moment, he was as close to Noah as he was back then.  
After all, he did promise him to return one day.  
It suddenly got cold.   
He knew he had to ignore that.   
That cold feeling he knew from all of his nightmares wouldn’t make him lose focus on Noah.  
He wasn't going to get distracted by that.  
After what felt like an eternity, something changed  
He felt something cold brush his cheek.  
Like an icy hand having its fingers brush against his skin.   
This was new – But he couldn’t allow himself to think about it. He was doing this to get Noah back. He wanted to talk to Noah!  
His body began to shake, but he wouldn’t fail. Not because of this.

As soon as Mokuba was visibly getting cold, Ryou got up and put one of the blankets around his shoulders. As quietly and gently as possible, he made sure that he didn’t accidentally touch Mokuba and he was relieved to see that despite his shaking, Mokuba’s face still seemed to look calm.   
What worried Ryou nonetheless, was the little tealight, which caught his eye earlier.   
It didn’t burn any longer.

The cold sensation on Mokubas cheek began to wander.   
Over his cheek, down to his chin, where Mokuba couldn’t prevent his lower lip from shaking before it went lower, coming to a halt at his throat.  
No.  
He’d have to accept the cold without thinking about it.   
He was determined to get Noah back.  
He wasn't going to get distracted.   
Not when Ryou and Yugi were doing this for his sake.  
No matter what happens now, he would keep reaching out for Noah until he’d find him!   
It admittedly became harder for him to breathe but he’d deal with it.   
He’d gulp as he had the feeling that something would press against his throat.   
He wanted to panic, it was getting painful, but he stayed still only feeling cold fingers bruising the skin on his neck and his own warm tears building up in his eyes.  
Just as he was about to break, to cry and gasp for air, he had already been freed from the deadly grip.  
The darkness he was engulfed in was now being flooded with bright light, something that Mokuba shouldn’t be seeing as he had his eyes closed.  
And someone was standing in front of him.   
As if he had to look through heavy fog, he could only make out the vague shape of a human, but he already knew who he was dealing with so he couldn’t care less.  
'Finally ...' he thought and let his lips curl up into a smile “It's you, isn't it ...?” he asked. He did not actually speak. In fact, it felt like he was barely moving at all, but he heard his own voice resonating from the nothingness of the now bright space he found himself in.  
After that there was silence and the fog seemed to be getting heavier.  
He didn’t understand this at all. Panicking at the thought that this was all he would get and that he would just wake up in his room without having achieved anything he was about to try and speak up again but in the same moment he felt as though two arms would wrap around him.   
He felt a warmth he’d expect to feel if someone pulled him against their chest. 

"What are you doing here ...”

For the first time in what felt like forever, the voice Mokuba so desperately wanted to hear said something.

“This was a very stupid and very dangerous thing to do, Mokie..." 

The black-haired boy couldn’t stop himself from crying now. “Noah…” he thought. He couldn’t move whatsoever, even though he wanted to embrace the warmth the other one was giving him.   
Of course, he couldn’t move.   
Of course, he couldn’t hug Noah.   
This was his soul after all.   
But to be honest, Mokuba was fine with that. It was still Noah after all.  
“I know...” Mokuba heard his own voice speaking for him in his mind “…but I also knew that you would protect me... After all… you’ve been doing this the whole time… Noah...” he thought as let tears run down his cheeks.  
He was finally talking to Noah. He didn’t make this up after all. Noah wasn’t completely gone and they would figure out a way to-  
“You put yourself and your friends in great danger...” he heard Noah say. Mokuba was shocked. What did he just say…? “You shouldn't have opened a path for others to… enter your world...” Noah continued and Mokuba silently listened. What had he done…? “I had him under control... but now… I don't know how powerful he will get if he makes it into your world...”  
Mokuba felt the arms that would hold him loosen and withdraw.   
He wanted to be able to move so badly.  
He wanted to keep those arms around him like a border that would keep him safe from any harm.  
“You promised...!” Mokuba desperately tried to stay in contact with Noah. He didn’t want him to leave again so soon. “You said… You said we would meet again…!”   
Another moment of silence followed and Mokuba thought his heart might break at what he heard next  
“Not if it puts you in danger…I’d rather never return instead of letting that happen… and now leave…!”

The CEO of the Kaiba Corporation had been looking up some things on his computer as he noticed the lights in his bureau to flicker.   
He could have ignored that.  
If his name wasn’t Seto Kaiba.   
The lights flickered once more and he felt his hand twitching in annoyance as he stopped typing on his keyboard.  
He hated malfunctions, and especially those that would interfere with his workflow.   
Before he even managed to call someone he heard a sharp sound from above and the room went dark so that the screen of his PC was now the only source of light.   
He picked up his phone, dialed a number, and waited a moment.   
“Roland? Find out who is responsible for making our lightbulbs and lamps and get them fired immediately. Kaiba Corp. products should not break that easily.''  
With these words, he hung up and just wanted to continue working without the additional light but he soon realized that his computer was not responding any longer. He moved his mouse but the cursor wouldn’t move along and the screen would glitch.  
Infuriated, he paused and tried to type something on his keyboard, just to get some kind of reaction.   
Pointless.  
Seto let out an annoyed groan as he had to hold himself back from punching his keyboard.  
Seto couldn't even remember the last time one of his computers would lag, so this was quite upsetting.  
When he looked at the digital clock on his bedside table, he was shocked to see how it displayed the standard digits “88:88”, meaning it didn’t work correctly either.   
Impossible.  
No hacker could be smart enough to get through the security software of the Kaiba Corporation. Seto ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh.  
Did his solid vision still work?   
He quickly stood up, attached the device to his arm, and put on his headset.  
"It’s not like Mokuba would find out anyways…” he muttered to himself.   
At first, he couldn’t make out anything unusual. A lot of the cameras in the building were still working and, to Seto’s relief the Solid Vision was unaffected as well.   
Immediately he tried to find the cause of all the malfunctions.   
He let the intelligent system scan the building and make sure there was no virus causing him trouble.  
It didn’t seem like that was the case at all though.  
Instead, an enormously high interference frequency came from the only monitoring gap in his system.  
Mokuba's room.


End file.
